The field of the invention relates to methods and tools for inserting wafers into connectors and more specifically for maintaining the alignment of the bores in a wafer with a corresponding pattern in a connector as the wafer is inserted into the connector.
Currently thin wafers constructed of delicate material are being inserted into electrical connectors to provide filtering and grounding functions. These wafers are typically shaped as thin disks and have holes or bores extending through them as shown in FIG. 1. The wafer bores are for receiving conductive pins that are part of a typical connector.
FIG. 1 shows a typical connector 52 and wafer 50 arrangement of the prior art where the connector has conductive pins 54 which may extend through the bores 56 in the wafer and into a mating connector 58 to make electrical contact with conductors in the mating connector. Such connectors 52 are typically constructed to have an internal structure from which the connector pins extend and a protective housing 60 surrounding the pins. The internal structure provides for the connection of the pins to a conductor leading from the connector (such as an insulated wire). The protective housing 60 shields the pins and internal structure from contact with things external to the housing.
In order for a wafer to provide a filtering or grounding function it is usually necessary that each of the connector pins make sufficient electrical contact with its corresponding wafer bore. In order to facilitate contact between the wafer and the pins, the wafer bores often have a diameter that is at most slightly smaller than the diameter of the pin to which the bore corresponds. The wafer bores may have small tabs within them defining the bore opening so that it is slightly smaller than the diameter of a single pin. Sufficient electrical contact between the pins and bores is made when the pins contact the small tabs and bend them in the direction of the pins passage through the wafer. The inherent properties of the wafer material cause the small tabs to be biased against the pins after being bent.
Wafers that are inserted into connectors may have an overall diameter that is substantially the same as the opening in the connector housing for receiving the wafer. When the wafer is inserted into the connector the edges of the wafer generally contact the sides of the housing. The wafer may bend and possibly break due to this contact if the insertion pressure is not applied across the entire surface of the wafer being inserted.
In one prior art method (shown in FIG. 1) of inserting a wafer with bores therethrough into a connector and onto internal connector pins, a wafer 50 is first carefully balanced at the entrance of the connector by hand. Next, the wafer is oriented so that the wafer bore hole pattern is aligned with the corresponding pin pattern in the connector 52. The wafer is then inserted into the connector by applying pressure to the wafer with a mating connector or plug 58. The wafer, being constructed of delicate material, may be damaged or destroyed if the bores and pins are not aligned and kept in alignment as the wafer is inserted or if the insertion pressure on the wafer is not applied evenly.
The connector housing by itself partially shields the connector pins from view and placement of the wafer at the connector entrance further shields the pins from view. Accordingly alignment of the wafer bores with the connector pins is often difficult to obtain and/or maintain during the insertion process because of the inability to view the connector pin pattern prior to and during insertion.
Because the bores in the wafer may initially be misaligned or become misaligned during insertion, the pins may miss the bores and press into and damage the wafer. Since the pins are blocked from view by the wafer during insertion, verification of proper alignment between the bores and pins is limited prior to contact between the pins and the wafer.
Another difficulty often experienced using the prior art method is that the surface of a mating connector or plug which applies pressure to a wafer may be uneven. This uneven surface may cause the insertion pressure on the wafer to be applied unevenly, leading to cracking or breaking of the delicate wafer material.
It is accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a novel means for and method of wafer insertion which overcomes these and other known problems of the prior art wafer insertion means and methods.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel means for and method of aligning the bores of a wafer with the pins of a connector and maintaining the alignment of the bores and pins while the wafer is being inserted onto the pins.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel means for and method of inserting a wafer into a connector by applying pressure to the wafer evenly across a surface of the wafer.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel means for and a method of wafer insertion enabling a user to observe the alignment of the bores in a wafer with the pins in a connector as the wafer is inserted onto the pins of the connector.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel means for and a method of straightening the pins of a connector.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel means for and method of aligning the bores of a wafer with the corresponding bores of a connector and maintaining the alignment of the two sets of bores while the wafer is being inserted into the connector.
These and many other objects and advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims and the following description of preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.